Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(63)

“To provoke Simon to sue. They knew he couldn’t take it lying down because of Rachel.”

Bennie wasn’t sure. “In that theory, Todd doesn’t really matter. The target is Simon.”

“Right. We just don’t know why.”

“The other possibility is that somebody had reason to want Todd dead, irrespective of Simon. The fact that these events are temporally connected doesn’t mean that they’re causally connected.”

Judy plowed through her rice. “Huh? I can’t think when I’m eating.”

Bennie smiled. “The fact that they happen in the same time doesn’t mean that there is a logical, causal relationship. It could be that the killer uses the litigation with Simon to his own ends and seizes the opportunity to kill Todd.”

“I’m following,” Mary said, nodding.

“We know that a lot of people knew about happy hour at the club and where Todd parked. So either somebody knew Todd would be there and they didn’t know that Simon was coming, or somebody knew Simon was coming and they framed him. The question is, who would want Todd dead?”

“Do you have any guesses, Bennie?” Mary leaned forward. “You met Todd, at least. I know more about Simon than you do. We just have to put our information together.”

Bennie mulled it over. “The framing theory is interesting, because motive is so clearly established with the lawsuits and Simon’s termination. Simon looks like the typical disgruntled employee who snaps and kills his boss. Either way, the killer has to be somebody who knows that Todd parks in the same place and goes to happy hour on Friday, rain or shine. That means it’s somebody in Todd’s circle of friends, maybe at work. Or circle at the club.”

Mary perked up. “To me, the logical place to start would be the two men who made allegations about Simon in the defama tion complaint. Ernie and Ray. They were both willing to lie about Simon in the lawsuit and back each other up. That seems fishy, doesn’t it?”

“Agree. I met Ray at the interview. Kind of a close-mouthed, no-nonsense operations guy. And Ernie called Mike Bashir about the cops and the search warrant.”

Mary nodded, excited. “We should narrow in on them when we go through the documents and emails.”

“Okay.” Bennie got on the same page. “So what’s the plan of action?”

“In the morning, we go to the crime scene. I set it up for ten o’clock and I’d like you to go with me.”

“I will.” Bennie felt pleased.

Mary turned to Judy. “You stay here, okay? You make sure all the docs are boxed and that courier gets them. Do you mind doing all the Xeroxing tonight?”

“Fine with me.” Judy nodded, chewing away. “But I’m keeping the lid closed. I’m not a fan of radiation, unlike somebody we know.”

Mary blinked. “What lid?”

“On the machine. I don’t want a third ovary.”

“Forget it,” Bennie interjected. “Mary, you were saying?”

Mary faced Bennie. “I think you should take the sales info, and I should take the email. I’ll eliminate the emails that are irrelevant, then make a document index like we do on any big civil case, classifying the relevant documents by subject, using a keyword, and making it searchable by subject.”

“Right, do it down and dirty. Narrow it down to the past six months, for starters. I’ll learn everything about Simon’s sales and we can put our facts together.”

“Yes.” Mary rose with a smile. “I got a second wind!”

“Me, too.” Bennie stood up, opposite her. “Let’s get to work.”

“Can I have the last spring roll?” Judy asked, but the others were already leaving.





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Mary slipped into bed at five in the morning, her sheets cool and her bedroom dark. She felt exhausted and depressed, having barely made a dent in Simon’s emails, and Bennie had felt the same way, since all she had managed to do was plot Simon’s call logs, purchase orders, and other sales information on Excel spreadsheets. They had both left the office to sleep for an hour or so before they had to get up, shower, and leave for the crime scene. Poor Judy had stayed behind to Xerox her heart out, make the deadline for the courier, and then go home and sleep in.

Mary pulled the cotton blanket up slowly, not to wake up Anthony, and her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness yet, so she could only see the outline of his shoulders, his body turned away. He must’ve been as tired as she was, since he had been at her parents’ house after the news broke about Simon’s being taken in for questioning. She had texted him to go over and try to keep her parents’ blood pressures in a normal range. She hoped he had succeeded. Otherwise she hadn’t had a chance to catch him up on anything.

Anthony stirred, shifting around to face her in the darkness. “Honey?” he asked softly, running a hand lightly down her arm.

“Oh, hi. I thought you were asleep.” Mary shifted closer to his chest, feeling the warmth coming off of his skin. She always said that he ran hot, like a furnace. “When did you get home?”

“About two hours ago.”

“Oh no, later than I thought. Were they upset?”

“Yes. My mother was there too. It’s a lot for them. I’m glad I went.”